Freakonomics Radio

607. Is America Switching From Booze to Weed?

Freakonomics Radio

We have always been a nation of drinkers — but now there are more daily users of cannabis than alcohol. Considering alcohol’s harms, maybe that’s a good thing. But some people worry that the legalization of cannabis has outpaced the research. (Part one of a four-part series.)   SOURCES: Jon Caulkins, professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai. Michael Siegel, professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University. Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist. Ryan Stoa, associate professor of law at Louisiana State University.   RESOURCES: "Cannabis Tops Alcohol as Americans’ Daily Drug of Choice," by Christina Caron (The New York Times, 2024). "Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021," by Marissa B. Esser, Adam Sherk, Yong Liu, and Timothy S. Naimi (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2024). "Nixon Started the War on Drugs. Privately, He Said Pot Was ‘Not Particularly Dangerous,'" by Ernesto Londoño (The New York Times, 2024). "A Brief Global History of the War on Cannabis," by Ryan Stoa (The MIT Press Reader, 2020). Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry, by Ryan Stoa (2018). "How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat," by Anahad O’Connor (The New York Times, 2016). "The Perils of Ignoring History: Big Tobacco Played Dirty and Millions Died. How Similar Is Big Food?" by Kelly D. Brownell and Kenneth E. Warner (The Milbank Quarterly, 2009). A History Of The World In Six Glasses, by Tom Standage (2005). "Cancer and Coronary Artery Disease Among Seventh-Day Adventists," by E. L. Wynder, F. R. Lemon, and I. J. Bross (Cancer, 1959).   EXTRAS: "Why Is the Opioid Epidemic Still Raging?" series by Freakonomics Radio (2024). "Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024). "Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana Is a Boon for Older Workers," by Freakonomics Radio (2021). "What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol?" by Freakonomics Radio (2014).

606. How to Predict the Presidency

Freakonomics Radio

Are betting markets more accurate than polls? What kind of chaos would a second Trump term bring? And is U.S. democracy really in danger, or just “sputtering on”? (Part two of a two-part series.)   SOURCES: Eric Posner, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. Koleman Strumpf, professor of economics at Wake Forest University.   RESOURCES: "A Trump Dictatorship Won’t Happen," by Eric Posner (Project Syndicate, 2023). The Demagogue's Playbook: The Battle for American Democracy from the Founders to Trump, by Eric Posner (2020). "The Long History of Political Betting Markets: An International Perspective," by Paul W. Rhode and Koleman Strumpf (The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Gambling, 2013). "Manipulating Political Stock Markets: A Field Experiment and a Century of Observational Data," by Paul W. Rhode and Koleman S. Strumpf (Working Paper, 2007). "Historical Presidential Betting Markets," by Paul W. Rhode and Koleman S. Strumpf (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2004).   EXTRAS: "Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2024). “Does the President Matter as Much as You Think?” by Freakonomics Radio (2020). "How Much Does the President Really Matter?" by Freakonomics Radio (2010).

Has the U.S. Presidency Become a Dictatorship? (Update)

Freakonomics Radio

Sure, we all pay lip service to the Madisonian system of checks and balances. But presidents have been steadily expanding the reach of the job. With an election around the corner, we updated our 2016 conversation with the legal scholar Eric Posner — who has some good news and some not-so-good news about the power of the presidency. (Part one of a two-part series.)   SOURCE: Eric Posner, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School.     RESOURCES: "Presidential Leadership and the Separation of Powers," by Eric Posner (Daedalus, 2016). The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic, by Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule (2010).   EXTRA: "Does the President Matter as Much as You Think?" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

605. What Do People Do All Day?

Freakonomics Radio

Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor becomes more technical and less physical? And what kinds of jobs will exist in the future?    SOURCES: David Autor, professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Paula Barmaimon, manager of coverage and audience analytics at The New York Times. Ellen Griesedieck, artist and president of the American Mural Project. Adina Lichtman, co-host of the Our Friends Are Smart party. Avi Popack, co-host of the Our Friends Are Smart party. Huck Scarry, author and illustrator. James Suzman, anthropologist and author. Ben Varon, rabbi and chaplain at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn .   RESOURCES: "New Frontiers: The Origins and Content of New Work, 1940–2018," by David Autor, Caroline Chin, Anna Salomons, and Bryan Seegmiller (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2024). Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots, by James Suzman (2020). Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, by Studs Terkel (1974). What Do People Do All Day?, by Richard Scarry (1968). "Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren," by John Maynard Keynes (1930). American Mural Project.   EXTRAS: "Will the Democrats 'Make America Great Again'?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023). "How to Stop Worrying and Love the Robot Apocalypse," by Freakonomics Radio (2021). "Did China Eat America’s Jobs?" by Freakonomics Radio (2017). People I (Mostly) Admire.